First Class Terminal Frankfurt: the best lounge in the world?
Flying First Class has been a long-time dream of mine and I wanted to make my first flight definitively from Frankfurt FRA.
For one thing, it's pretty much my home airport, but more importantly - there's one of the world's most famous airport lounges dedicated to First Class passengers, located in a completely separate building from the rest of the airport.
First Class Terminal. A term that everyone in the aviation community is familiar with.
I used the lounge before a flight in the old First Class on a Boeing 747-8.
Find out First Class fares at lufthansa.com
What and where is the First Class Terminal?
The First Class Terminal is effectively a lounge for First Class passengers on Lufthansa or Swiss airlines.
It is located in a completely separate building with private access for cars.
However, you can also walk here on foot from the classic Terminal 1 in about 5 minutes and also from the train stations in about 10-15 minutes.
- 🕒Open daily from 5:30-22:00
- 📍Location of the terminal on the map
- 🌐 Official website: lufthansa.com/first-class-terminal
- 🏨 Hotel tip: Frankfurt Airport Marriott Hotel **** (approx. 450 meters from FCT)
The First Class Terminal can only be reached from the public area.
The building is mainly adapted for access by car or taxi, but there is also a signposted walkway from the main Terminal 1.
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Private check-in and passport control
Inside the terminal, you can check in your baggage at the reception desk and print your boarding pass.
You will then go through security directly to the lounge.
There is a private passport control on the ground floor, from which you will be taken by limousine straight to the aircraft.
Who has access to the First Class Terminal?
Lufthansa and Swiss First Class passengers can use the First Class Terminal lounge.
You can bring one guest with you who has a ticket for the same flight - but the guest can fly in any class, including economy or business.
In addition, FCT can be used by HON Circle members flying with any Lufthansa Group airline.
Can I visit the FCT during my transfer?
Yes, but you have to leave the transit section of the airport, go outside and walk from Terminal 1 to the First Class Terminal.
Can I visit FCT with a connecting flight in business class?
Yes. Aircraft destined for shorter routes in Europe do not have a first class cabin. So, for example, if you have a First Class flight booked from Tokyo via Frankfurt to Paris, you will fly the segment between Frankfurt and Paris in a business class cabin.
However, since the entire ticket is issued as First Class, you can still visit FCT.
Quiet places to work, comfortable seats and dining tables
After you check in at reception and go through security, you're greeted by a spacious lounge divided into several different sections.
Just inside the entrance is a display case of collectible ducklings, which you can ask for at the Concierge desk. Of course, I took advantage of this right away!
To the left after security, you can shop for souvenirs or travel gear at the Lufthansa Worldshop, which is open 7:00-21:30.
The main part of the lounge with comfortable armchairs is airy, bright and very spacious.
There are always plenty of seats available.
To the right of the entrance and in the middle of the lounge is a large bar with a very extensive range of alcoholic drinks, wines, champagne, cocktails and soft drinks.
What I really miss about the lounge is the inability to tap or take a soft drink yourself, with the exception of the infused water that is available at the bar.
There is no postmix or refrigerator with cans or bottles of water or sodas. If you want any drink other than water, you must ask at the bar or the attendant who regularly walks through the entire lounge.
Further to the right, between the bar and the restrooms, you can take a seat in the à la carte restaurant. You don't have to choose from the menu, however, but feel free to just sit at the tables and choose your own from the rather extensive buffet menu, see below for details.
On the other hand, to the left of the lounge entrance you'll find several lockable cubicles ideal for working on your laptop.
There's virtually no noise inside and you can bring your food and drink in here too.
Buffet and luxury à la carte restaurant
You won't go hungry in the First Class Terminal.
The range of food on offer is large and of high quality.
You can always choose your own food from the buffet bar, which includes a breakfast menu (until about 11:00) and an afternoon menu (from 11:00 until evening).
There are usually 4 types of hot food to choose from and countless other options such as desserts, salads, quality cheeses, dried fruit or honey.
After lunch, I also go to try the restaurant with a choice of menu items. Everything is included, of course - you pay nothing for food or drink (and that includes the luxury alcohol).
I skip the appetizer and have a beef steak for my main course, along with a classic - Lufthansa's signature cocktail called the Avionic.
Both are great, top quality, and I would definitely pay around 80 eur for such a meal in a regular restaurant.
Dessert I can't choose other than the signature milk chocolate duck with raspberry ice cream. Now that I've started collecting the plastic duckies, which are different in every Lufthansa First Class lounge, I have to try the chocolate duck!
Showers with bathtub
A shower before a long flight to Tokyo is a must for me, so after lunch about an hour before boarding I go to check in on the waitlist.
There are a total of 6 showers, 2 of which even come with a bathtub. I've never experienced that in any airport lounge before.
I get my turn right away and go straight into the shower with a bathtub.
There is no limit to the time in the shower here.
There's a little Balmain Paris make-up kit.
The sleeping room
A great service is the two hotel-style sleeping rooms (officially called nap rooms), which you can use free of charge.
These rooms operate on a first-come, first-served basis and cannot be booked in advance.
There is no limit to the time you can spend inside.
Smoking room and other services
The First Class Terminal has a large smoking room designated as Cigar Lounge.
This is, by the way, the only place where alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are available by the bottle and you can serve yourself.
In the rest of the lounge, you have to go to the bar to get a drink or be served in the restaurant or by staff who regularly pass through the lounge.
FCT does not offer any other services. For example, there are no children's play areas.
You can take advantage of the range of German or English language printed materials and of course the sockets for charging electronics, including usb ports.
Limousine transfer to the plane
At the time of boarding, the staff will actively look for you. You do not need to check in at any desk.
You will be escorted to the ground floor, where you will be given your passport back at passport control, which you will hand in on arrival at the lounge.
You will not be delayed any longer at passport control, the officer will immediately issue your passport - it has been checked during your stay in the lounge.
You will then be taken directly to the aircraft in a luxury limousine.
My rating
The First Class Terminal is definitely the best lounge in the world so far that I have personally visited. I don't have to think about it too long.
However, it does have some drawbacks. I would sum up my feelings in this short list:
- ✅ Private and fast check-in for First Class passengers only - no need to visit the main terminal at all
- ✅ Quick security and passport control
- ✅ High-end quality catering
- ✅ Virtually unlimited supply of quality alcohol
- ✅ Spacious showers and bathtubs
- ✅ Complimentary bedroom options
- ✅ No worries if you miss your flight - the lounge staff will find you during boarding
- ✅ Limousine transfer directly to the plane
- ❌ No self-serve soft drinks
- ❌ No view of the tarmac
- ❌ First Class Terminal is mainly designed for car access - walking from the main terminal is not very convenient
Any questions left?
If you have any questions or comments about the article...
6 comments
Combination of buffet and a-la-carte seems great to me, everyone can choose what suits him. Can the sleeping room be locked from the inside? (for a sense of security, even though it's clear there's no danger here, but still). I suppose after each person I was supposed to clean it completely and change the sheets no matter how much time the person spent there? Any experience with this? Does it wake a person up for the next flight? :-) I, for example, got the impression in the LH/Swis/TK lounge at IAD that they were a bit wary of us when they claimed we could board the plane directly from the lounge and still bragged about it - and heck, we almost missed it and it was really right there to enter the gate (granted, it was "just" business). Our fault, of course, we probably misheard the announcement and ended up boarding last.
Sure, bedrooms are normally locked :) It's cleaned just like the shower.
And yes, the staff wake guests up well before boarding.
The First Class Terminal is not available to any higher frequent flyer level holders unless they have a First Class ticket.
Unless something has changed, HONs have access to the FCT terminal regardless of ticket class as long as they are flying the same day as the LH group.
Right, thanks for the heads up.
I'd find self service rather strange, here you expect bartenders and waiters.
But the cigar lounge is a risky workplace for them and the union won't let them in, so it's the other way around.
nice and neat review, how many miles did you use and how easy (available award flights) was the planning? Thanks a lot!
It says it was for cash. By classic first it's pretty hard to find award flights. Either I list it far in advance and only one seat per segment, or I list available seats about 1-2 days before departure. Can't get into Allegris or Sense at all. I got a one way ticket to Tokyo for 110k miles and about 7200k surcharge.
Damn, I'm looking forward to it. I also have a flight to Tokyo in First :-D P.S.: do they still have Porsche and classic limos, or just the vans?
If there are more people, a van, otherwise a Porsche or BMW 7. If you have a transfer in FRA, the transfer is only in case of a bus gate, the same applies for the departure journey from the first class lounge A and B in FRA.
Limo is always only on departure in case of FCT, but you only get to it on transfer if you go out and enter FCT through the main reception, as if you were departing from FRA, there is no access directly from airside.
I'm counting on going outside. I've got three and a half hours. I know they've ended their relationship with Porsche and have a contract with SIXT, so I was wondering how things are now. They say you can ask at the front desk and they will occasionally try.
I find the difference between a BMW 7 and a VW van a bit strange - not that it matters, but it's just the difference in the service I get at the time (purely for the feeling of luxury) :-) The problem is probably not the number of cars, but rather the number of drivers that would be needed at that moment, as they probably have one there, and if by chance 8 people would go to the plane to first, they would need at least 3 BMW 7 drivers (people are generally more expensive than equipment/vehicles and that is also true in this case, plus car companies are able to provide cars for this service under completely different conditions than normal).
For me, it's definitely better to ride in a VW van with more people (strange passengers) than a BMW 7 :)